A very well done doc. A thorough explanation of the issues, plus a good cross-section of people interviewed from government, the hacker community and other interested parties.
If you want to know about this case and you want to understand the area, certainly watch this doc. When added to the reading I have done, I think I have a reasonable sense of what happened here.
The film is relatively neutral and does not judge Ross Ulbricht, the government, the handling of the case and the pros and cons of the issues. Everyone is heard without a lot of judgement around what they say, which allows for a good understanding of the case and the issues.
SPOILER ALERT
All of that said, Ross' parents play a considerable role in the film and their endless whining about his situation and the outcome is problematic. They never admit he did anything wrong, they never admit that he got himself into this situation. Instead, the law is wrong, the crimes are victimless, the judge was unfair, yada, yada. Poor Ross.
Very clearly, their son KNEW what he was doing, he set out to defeat the very laws he was convicted of breaking, he was caught and he has now had the consequences of all of that.
The law and the consequences are unfair or wrong, as is constantly stated by his parents? Maybe. Perhaps. The sentences were excessive? Sure, maybe. Ross was made an example of, to deter others from doing something similar? Of course.
Having said that, his parents will have voted the straight Republican ticket their entire lives and the very crimes and punishments they moan about, will have been brought in by the Republican monsters they elected and will have damaged millions of families, not just theirs.
Through magical thinking, Ross should be released because of (a partial list only) - the crimes were supposedly victimless, he's a harmless guy and would never hurt anyone, Covid in the prison system is dramatically higher than in the general population, other people did similar crimes and got lesser punishments, yada, yada? Sorry, what?
Their concern for others and for the lack of justice in the justice system, completely explodes when they reach out to super creepy Donald Trump for a pardon and when they contact witless Kim Kardashian, to see if she will talk to super creepy Trump.
We live in a new era where the automatic response is I didn't do it and if I did it, who cares and if I did it and I got caught, I shouldn't have to suffer the consequences and on and on. A world where people can do whatever they like and never face the consequences of their actions would be an utterly dysfunctional place that no one but sociopaths would want to live in.
I have this obscure philosophy from an even more obscure Austrian economist and I want to live my life that way, regardless of the laws or the consequences to others? Good luck, eh?
If you want to know about this case and you want to understand the area, certainly watch this doc. When added to the reading I have done, I think I have a reasonable sense of what happened here.
The film is relatively neutral and does not judge Ross Ulbricht, the government, the handling of the case and the pros and cons of the issues. Everyone is heard without a lot of judgement around what they say, which allows for a good understanding of the case and the issues.
SPOILER ALERT
All of that said, Ross' parents play a considerable role in the film and their endless whining about his situation and the outcome is problematic. They never admit he did anything wrong, they never admit that he got himself into this situation. Instead, the law is wrong, the crimes are victimless, the judge was unfair, yada, yada. Poor Ross.
Very clearly, their son KNEW what he was doing, he set out to defeat the very laws he was convicted of breaking, he was caught and he has now had the consequences of all of that.
The law and the consequences are unfair or wrong, as is constantly stated by his parents? Maybe. Perhaps. The sentences were excessive? Sure, maybe. Ross was made an example of, to deter others from doing something similar? Of course.
Having said that, his parents will have voted the straight Republican ticket their entire lives and the very crimes and punishments they moan about, will have been brought in by the Republican monsters they elected and will have damaged millions of families, not just theirs.
Through magical thinking, Ross should be released because of (a partial list only) - the crimes were supposedly victimless, he's a harmless guy and would never hurt anyone, Covid in the prison system is dramatically higher than in the general population, other people did similar crimes and got lesser punishments, yada, yada? Sorry, what?
Their concern for others and for the lack of justice in the justice system, completely explodes when they reach out to super creepy Donald Trump for a pardon and when they contact witless Kim Kardashian, to see if she will talk to super creepy Trump.
We live in a new era where the automatic response is I didn't do it and if I did it, who cares and if I did it and I got caught, I shouldn't have to suffer the consequences and on and on. A world where people can do whatever they like and never face the consequences of their actions would be an utterly dysfunctional place that no one but sociopaths would want to live in.
I have this obscure philosophy from an even more obscure Austrian economist and I want to live my life that way, regardless of the laws or the consequences to others? Good luck, eh?